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Hazeltine 2000
The Hazeltine 2000 is one of the first general-purpose "smart" computer terminals, introduced in October 1970 at a price of $2,995 (equivalent to $24,800 in 2025). While earlier terminal systems included "smart" editing features, notably the IBM 2260, the Hazeltine 2000 was the first that used a standard RS-232 interface and sent its control sequences in the data stream. It could be attached to any contemporary minicomputer or mainframe that had a serial port and used ASCII-standard character sets.
One advanced feature of the design was the concept of "batch mode" that cached data being typed by the user and sent it all at once to the host. The system also had two display intensities, foreground and background (bright and dim). Data sent in background mode was independent and not sent back to the server. This allowed forms to be sent as text in background mode and then switch the terminal to foreground mode for data entry. This was used to create on-screen forms that could be filled out and cleared without having to re-send the background layout.
The base model displayed 27 lines of 74 characters, uppercase only, while an expansion added lowercase and 80-by-25 layout. In 1974 the expanded version became the only model and the price was lowered. The basic system was reimplemented several times using newer electronics as they became available during the 1970s. The Hazeltine 1500 was a lower-cost version introduced in 1977. The development team was unhappy with the support they received from the corporation, and the division was spun off to form Esprit Systems.
The system was an all-in-one unit with a 12" diagonal green phosphor screen with a 8.5" by 5.75" display area. The system weighed 62 pounds (28 kg) and required at least 24 inches (610 mm) of depth on a desk, and drew a massive 350 W in operation. It required 30 seconds to "warm up", and continually ran a fan to cool the system. Later models first grew to 63 pounds (29 kg) before falling to 57 pounds (26 kg).
In contrast to most glass terminals of the era, the 2000 offered only RS-232, lacking the common current loop based on the Teletype Model 33 that was widely used as an ad hoc terminal in the 1970s. Switches on the back of the case allowed the speed to be set to all common speeds between 110 and 9600 bit/s. A second switch, "CA", added additional Request To Send characters to send data in order to turn around the communications channel in half-duplex modems like the WE202C. This also had the side-effect of reducing the speeds; when turned on the highest speed was 1200 bit/s, but it also supported a wider variety of speeds below that to match the variety of speeds seen with these modems, adding 150 and 600 bit/s.
The system also had outputs for a printer, cassette storage, and the video signal so it could be mirrored on up to three additional screens. The connectors were complex, HDR panel mounts based on those used in avionics, Hazeltine's primary business. The RS-232 was connected via a hard-wired cable with a 25-pin connector at the end, not a rear-panel port.
The keyboard could be detached, connecting to the terminal using a 5 foot (1.5 m) 54-pin HDR connector. It had a 51-key typewriter layout main section, along with a numeric keypad to the right, and a cursor control section to the right of the numeric keypad. Running in a column down the extreme right hand side was a series of seven status lamps and pushbuttons with the on/off switch at the top of the column.
Parity was selected using a rear-panel rotating switch, odd, even, always-1 or always-0. A parity error would cause the parity lamp to light, which could be cleared by pressing it.
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Hazeltine 2000 AI simulator
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Hazeltine 2000
The Hazeltine 2000 is one of the first general-purpose "smart" computer terminals, introduced in October 1970 at a price of $2,995 (equivalent to $24,800 in 2025). While earlier terminal systems included "smart" editing features, notably the IBM 2260, the Hazeltine 2000 was the first that used a standard RS-232 interface and sent its control sequences in the data stream. It could be attached to any contemporary minicomputer or mainframe that had a serial port and used ASCII-standard character sets.
One advanced feature of the design was the concept of "batch mode" that cached data being typed by the user and sent it all at once to the host. The system also had two display intensities, foreground and background (bright and dim). Data sent in background mode was independent and not sent back to the server. This allowed forms to be sent as text in background mode and then switch the terminal to foreground mode for data entry. This was used to create on-screen forms that could be filled out and cleared without having to re-send the background layout.
The base model displayed 27 lines of 74 characters, uppercase only, while an expansion added lowercase and 80-by-25 layout. In 1974 the expanded version became the only model and the price was lowered. The basic system was reimplemented several times using newer electronics as they became available during the 1970s. The Hazeltine 1500 was a lower-cost version introduced in 1977. The development team was unhappy with the support they received from the corporation, and the division was spun off to form Esprit Systems.
The system was an all-in-one unit with a 12" diagonal green phosphor screen with a 8.5" by 5.75" display area. The system weighed 62 pounds (28 kg) and required at least 24 inches (610 mm) of depth on a desk, and drew a massive 350 W in operation. It required 30 seconds to "warm up", and continually ran a fan to cool the system. Later models first grew to 63 pounds (29 kg) before falling to 57 pounds (26 kg).
In contrast to most glass terminals of the era, the 2000 offered only RS-232, lacking the common current loop based on the Teletype Model 33 that was widely used as an ad hoc terminal in the 1970s. Switches on the back of the case allowed the speed to be set to all common speeds between 110 and 9600 bit/s. A second switch, "CA", added additional Request To Send characters to send data in order to turn around the communications channel in half-duplex modems like the WE202C. This also had the side-effect of reducing the speeds; when turned on the highest speed was 1200 bit/s, but it also supported a wider variety of speeds below that to match the variety of speeds seen with these modems, adding 150 and 600 bit/s.
The system also had outputs for a printer, cassette storage, and the video signal so it could be mirrored on up to three additional screens. The connectors were complex, HDR panel mounts based on those used in avionics, Hazeltine's primary business. The RS-232 was connected via a hard-wired cable with a 25-pin connector at the end, not a rear-panel port.
The keyboard could be detached, connecting to the terminal using a 5 foot (1.5 m) 54-pin HDR connector. It had a 51-key typewriter layout main section, along with a numeric keypad to the right, and a cursor control section to the right of the numeric keypad. Running in a column down the extreme right hand side was a series of seven status lamps and pushbuttons with the on/off switch at the top of the column.
Parity was selected using a rear-panel rotating switch, odd, even, always-1 or always-0. A parity error would cause the parity lamp to light, which could be cleared by pressing it.